TURKEY / SYRIAN REFUGEES AGRICULTURE

23-Apr-2018
00:03:14

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project ‘Enhanced Resilience through Increased Economic Opportunities for Syrian Refugees and Host Communities’ successfully trained 900 people selected from among Syrians refugees and local host community members in Turkey. FAO

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1. Drone shot, olive lands in Gaziantep
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmud Abdullah, Project Beneficiary:
“In the past I was working in shoe sector in Syria. Our financial situation was very good, my children were in comfort and they were going to school. Here, I have worked in different sectors just to secure money for my family.”
3. Wide shot, farmers working in olive field, Gaziantep
4. Me shot, women working on the land, selecting pistachio, Gaziantep
5. Med shot, trainees packaging citrus, Mersin
6. Wide shot, farmer drying red pepper, Islahiye, Gaziantep
7. Wide shot, trainees harvesting apples, Gaziantep
8. Drone shot, olive lands in Gaziantep
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Yuriko Shoji, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia:
“So the FAO project is designed in such a way that opportunities are given both to the host communities and to the refugees to land the skills required to meet the needs of labour in the agriculture sector.”
10. Various shots, FAO employers talking to trainees
11. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Volkan Güngören, Acting Deputy Director General for European Union and Foreign Relations Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey:
“The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock supported this FAO project because we think it is important that our Syrian brothers and sisters can access vocational training in agriculture courses on agriculture and improve their skills.”
12. Wide shot, trainees in a theoretical class in Şanlıurfa
13. Wide shot, trainees harvesting apples in Isparta
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Marie Garelli, UNHCR Deputy Representative in Turkey:
“It fits perfectly within the approach that we are taking which is now more global approach. Refugees are not just waiting to receive humanitarian aid but should be considered as economic actors with their skills, with their economic potential.”
15. Wide shot, women working on red pepper post-harvest process, Gaziantep
16. Close up, trainees packaging dried nuts in a private company
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Semira Hidir, Project beneficiary:
“I benefited much from this programme. I learned a lot about agriculture such as when to plant, when to harvest, when to use fertilizers and this kind of information. I had no knowledge and experience on this subject before.”
18. Varıous shots, trainees harvesting olives in Akcakale, Şanlıurfa
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Ayşegül Selışık, FAO Assistant Representative in Turkey:
“Through this project, FAO is not only enhancing the skills of beneficiaries but most importantly we are putting them in contact with farms and companies in order to allow refugees and host communities to find employment.”
20. Various shots, job fair conducted for Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens in Gaziantep to meet employers with project beneficiaries
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Dominique Burgeon, FAO Director of Emergencies and Rehabilitation Division:
“we need to do whatever we can to support the food security of these communities of refugees and also the host communities. But in the meantime, as we are moving into the new phase of unfortunately what has become a very protracted displacement crisis, forced displacement crisis, we need to work, whenever it’s possible, on the socio-economic integration of these people.”
22. Wide shot, practical trainings on pistachio harvest in Gaziantep
23. Drone shot, olive lands in Gaziantep
24. Wide shot, farmer drying red pepper in Gaziantep
25. Med shot, a Syrian trainee harvesting apples in Isparta
26. Wide shot, a Turkish trainee is working in a cattle farm in Şanlıurfa
27. Close up, a Syrian trainee taking notes in a theoretical class in Gaziantep
28. Close up, a Syrian trainees working in a greenhouse in Şanlıurfa

STORYLINE

Refugee populations have little or no access to formal job opportunities, which can lead to instability and social tension between host and refugee communities.

One consequence of the seven-year Syrian crisis is over 4.8 million refugees have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt posing a significant burden on host communities.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmud Abdullah (Project beneficiary, Gaziantep):
“In the past I was working in shoe sector in Syria. Our financial situation was very good, my children were in comfort and they were going to school. Here, I have worked in different sectors just to secure money for my family.”

In this context, in 2017 FAO implemented the ‘Enhanced Resilience through Increased Economic Opportunities for Syrian Refugees and Host Communities’ project in five provinces of southern Turkey. The FAO project targeted and successfully trained some 900 people selected from among Syrians and local host community members.

SOUNDBITE (English) Yuriko Shoji, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia:
“So the FAO project is designed in such a way that opportunities are given both to the host communities and to the refugees to land the skills required to meet the needs of labour in the agriculture sector.”

Given that the agriculture sector engages more women than any other, the project promoted the involvement of women—45 percent of total project beneficiaries.

FAO worked with implementing partners to enhance capacities in the delivery of technical trainings as well as in matching labor demand and supply. The project sought to build partnerships with potential employers in the private agricultural sector.

SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Volkan Güngören, Acting Deputy Director General for European Union and Foreign Relations Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock of Turkey:
“The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock supported this FAO project because we think it is important that our Syrian brothers and sisters can access vocational training in agriculture courses on agriculture and improve their skills.”

Keeping in mind employment possibilities, selected training topics have been greenhouse, olive, pistachio, irrigation and cotton production. Half of all cotton production takes place in the Şanlıurfa province and it is in this sector where most workers are needed.

SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Marie Garelli UNHCR Deputy Representative in Turkey:
“It fits perfectly within the approach that we are taking which is now more global approach. Refugees are not just waiting to receive humanitarian aid but should be considered as economic actors with their skills, with their economic potential.”

Initially, some farms and companies were reluctant to take Syrian refugees on-board as workers and there was some tension between refugees and host community members.

But the project has been changing approaches and attitudes.

During FAO’s monitoring missions, several farm owners or representatives of food processing companies reported their satisfaction with the project trainees, and said they would be willing to hire the refugee workers in the future.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Semira Hidir, Project beneficiary, Şanlıurfa:
“I benefited much from this programme. I learned a lot about agriculture such as when to plant, when to harvest, when to use fertilizers and this kind of information. I had no knowledge and experience on this subject before.”

SOUNDBITE (English) Ayşegül Selışık FAO Assistant Representative in Turkey:
“Through this project, FAO is not only enhancing the skills of beneficiaries but most importantly we are putting them in contact with farms and companies in order to allow refugees and host communities to find employment.”

SOUNDBITE (English) Dominique Burgeon, FAO Director of Emergencies and Rehabilitation Division:
“we need to do whatever we can to support the food security of these communities of refugees and also the host communities. But in the meantime, as we are moving into the new phase of unfortunately what has become a very protracted displacement crisis, forced displacement crisis, we need to work, whenever it’s possible, on the socio-economic integration of these people.”

Given the protracted Syrian Crisis, it is foreseen that Syrians refugees in Turkey will remain in the country for at least the next few years, requiring a stronger emphasis on the transition from humanitarian response to a sustainable livelihood-oriented approach.